Oregon Students To Talk With Orbiting Space Station Astronauts

WASHINGTON -- International Space Station residents Scott Kelly, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli will speak to approximately 250 school students in McMinnville, Ore., about what it is like to live and work in space.

The astronauts will make the long-distance connection to students gathered at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum on Wednesday, Jan. 19, from 12:15-12:35 p.m. EST. The event will air live on NASA Television and on the agency’s website.

The museum is located at 500 NE Capt. Michael King Smith Way in McMinnville.

The live downlink will include students in grades 8 to 12 attending the McMinnville School District’s Engineering Pathway – Engineering, Aerospace and Sciences Academy, which meets daily at the museum. Other local students in kindergarten through eighth grades also will participate in the event.

NASA astronauts Kelly and Coleman and Nespoli of the European Space Agency are conducting science experiments aboard the space station. Kelly serves as the Expedition 26 commander until March when he returns home. Coleman and Nespoli will complete their station mission in May.

The downlink is part of a series with educational organizations in the U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component of NASA’s Teaching From Space education program.

The program promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA’s human spaceflight program.